A costly Easter dinner 

Easter, while not as market driving of a holiday as Christmas in the U.S., is still celebrated by many throughout the country. One study found that 80% of surveyed Americans intend to celebrate Easter this year, which points to the secular nature of the holiday for a substantial portion of the population. Who doesn’t love a chocolate Easter bunny, after all? 

Based on NielsenIQ retail sales data from March, this year’s celebration will see dramatic increases in the price of food commodities across the board. Ham, a traditional Easter dinner meat, saw a price increase of 52.9% compared to March 2021, while spiral ham is up by 46.1%. The produce department as a whole is up 10.3% in average cost with fruit specifically rising by 12.5% and vegetables by 8.5%.

Consumers who look at these prices and try to pivot to other meats as a main course may not find much relief elsewhere either. Consider the following price increases:

• Meat overall +13.6% 
• Fresh meat +10.8% 
• Lamb +18.5% 

• Chicken +13.0% 
• Turkey +21.8% 
• Pork +11.0% 

Those thinking that might be better off leaving the cooking to others should prepare to be disappointed too—prepared, pre-cooked meats at the grocery store are also up 18.7%. 

A more expensive egg hunt 

Of course, before the meal comes the Easter egg hunt and glorious candy. These items have also seen increases in price though, with chocolate up 8% and candy confections (think Peeps) up 8.1%. Even the floral department has seen increases, with prices up by 10.4%.

With the changing habits of U.S. consumers, these price increases could potentially point to a muted holiday season—even with pandemic restrictions lifting in most parts of the country.